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# Photovoltaic's in EnergyPlus output power above rated level

I am modelling photovoltaic's in EnergyPlus based off of the Example File 'ShopWithPVandStorage.idf'. In the component ElectricLoadCenter:Generators you set a 'Generator Rated Electric Power Output' which I assumed would be the max output the generator could produce. But when I set this value to 0 there was still photovoltaic energy production even though I had rated the power output to 0 W. This leads me to guess that there is some fixed value EnergyPlus is assuming for the output since I also tested with 1000 W and 2000 W and three cases(including 0 W) resulted in the same energy production. Is there another spot I need to set the generator power output?

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That Generator Rated Electric Power Output field does very little for PV, but it does get used in a LEED table summary report for the size of the PV. EnergyPlus is modeling the PV production based on a whole lot of factors, it is not assuming some fixed output.

( 2016-05-20 08:20:59 -0500 )edit

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I think this will help. Basically, you control the rated wattage by surface area and cell efficiency. Most panel power ratings are given at STC conditions with 1000 $W/m^{2}$ incident radiation . So as an example, if you specify a 100 $m^{2}$ system with 15% cell efficiency, that corresponds roughly to a 15 kW system.

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